Life, travel, and living beyond your expectations

Boston in black and white

Boston is a beautiful city and is even more beautiful when shot using black and white photography. Seeing Boston in black and white means seeing the city’s bones – it’s lines, curves, and angles – in a whole new way.

My husband and I often venture into the city on the weekends, but I don’t always bring my camera. The danger in constant visits to one place is that the destination loses its novelty over time. For me, the novelty of Boston was gone after attending college in the city and then living there for a few years after graduation. It’s only recently I’ve realized how much the city has changed and that it was time to explore it with new eyes.

It’s always noon (or midnight?) at the former Filene’s building in Boston’s Downtown Crossing.

Downtown Crossing is a great example. I knew that area in the era of Filene’s Basement. In fact, the Basement was often the only reason I would stop in that area. It was so fun to hunt for bargains and to check the overhead sign to figure out if that shirt in your hand qualified for automatic markdowns or not.

I was wandering through Downtown Crossing a few weeks ago and saw that the old Filene’s building is being torn down. This video shows the painstaking process of the demolition and the very inexact science of a wrecking ball. What I once knew as the Basement is now literally a big hole in the ground (insert sad face) but in a way I’m glad I got to see the process of it becoming something else.

Taking a picture of taking a picture of a fish at the New England Aquarium.

Another recent stop was at the New England Aquarium where they just debuted the new central tank on July 1, 2013. The central tank is the centerpiece of the aquarium and it now boasts more sea creatures than ever, as well as bigger and better viewing areas. I snapped a photo of my husband taking a photo of a fish that was swimming by.

The Os Gêmeos mural in Boston is always pictured in full color, but it looks pretty good in black and white too.